Artistic Angels
by Little-Pandemonium
Summary: John and Virgil have a late night chat. Slightly fluffy. Oneshot.


**This was an idea I came up with a while back and was inspired by my time in sixth form.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Thunderbirds!**

* * *

"Um, John?"

The blonde haired boy turned his head away from his telescope in surprise to see his immediate younger brother standing in the doorway of his room. He was wearing a blanket over his shoulders which draped down his body like a cape with his arms wrapped tightly around his beloved sketchpad.

"Virg? What are you doing up so late?" John asked, swiveling around in his chair to get a better look at his weary brother.

"I could say the same about you but I know you're nocturnal." The twelve year old replied, gently closing the door behind him and crossing the room to sit on the edge of John's bed.

John wheeled his chair a little closer to the end of his bed and kicked his legs up to rest them on the stump of his bedframe. "I know, but you're not. You sleep like the dead. So what's keeping you awake, kiddo? Is there something on your mind?"

Virgil cringed and shook his head slowly. John gave the chestnut haired boy a worried look. "Virg... I'm here to help. You can tell me anything. You know that, right?"

Virgil nodded his head, but didn't say anything for a while. He remained still on the bed, apparently deep in thought.

John respected his younger brother's decision to remain silent and wheeled his chair back over to the window, peering into his telescope to gaze at the constellations that danced across the sky above. He had recently been studying them for a Science project, which he found to be most enjoyable as he had always been drawn to the stars.

"I can't do it."

The blonde teenager looked up as his brother's voice cut through the silence and saw that Virgil was now sitting in the fetal position on his bed, his back against the wall and his head resting on top of his knees. John was immediately by his side. "What do you mean?"

"Art! M-My art course! I hate it!" Virgil squeaked, burying his head deeper into his knees in grief.

John tilted his head in confusion. Virgil had worked so hard to persuade their father to allow him to study art instead of completing an engineering course because he knew that he'd enjoy it more as art was his passion, so this new knowledge bewildered John completely. "Why's that?"

"I-It's just... not what I expected. My classmates don't like me so don't talk to me, but that I can deal with. It's-"

"Your classmates don't like you?" John interrupted. "Why's that?"

"Oh you know how it is." Virgil snorted. "I'm a rich Tracy, which automatically means I'm a snob. They don't even want to _try_ to get to know me, so whatever, you know?"

John nodded his head in understanding. It had always been the way.

Virgil continued. "The content of the course and modules aren't very... enlightening. I thought the course would allow us more artistic freedom, but it doesn't, which leads to me being berated for taking a different approach to everything Miss Turner suggests."

"I see." John said, processing the information being given to him. Normally Virgil would have gone to Scott with his plight, but their older brother was away on a school field trip, leaving John with some rather large footsteps to fill regarding the big brother department.

Virgil cut through his train of thought. "John, you mustn't tell dad about this! Please! If he found he'd be really angry with me!" He pleaded.

"Virg, dad wouldn't get angry about this. He supports all of our decisions, no matter how much he opposes them. He may not agree with them all, but he will always support us. I know that for a fact. If you're unhappy doing this course then you should tell him. He'd be more upset with you if he knew you were unhappy and hadn't spoken to him about it." John advised, putting a hand on his little brother's shoulder.

"B-But I let him down... I let them all down..." Virgil's gaze lowered to the floor.

There was more to this than his brother was letting on. John slid onto his bed and pulled himself up beside Virgil. "Virgil, what really happened?"

Virgil sighed. "I know you all think that I'm my own worst enemy when it comes to people criticizing my artwork, but Miss Turner was really tough on me today. She kept saying that my piece lacked depth and raw emotion... I really tried to make the piece more emotional, you know? But she was still so harsh with her comments. I think I just caught her on a bad day but they were all so critical..."

John frowned, sudden protective instinct rushing through him, "What did they say exactly?"

"They said it was stupid... Well, I guess it kinda is, but, I really like it..." he mumbled, hugging his sketchbook tighter.

"May I?"

Virgil handed him the sketchbook. "Yeah, just please don't laugh." The middle Tracy knew that his brothers would never laugh at his artwork anyway, especially the caring John, but said it just to be sure of himself.

John flipped open the sketchbook and began flicking through the pages slowly, taking in the various doodles and drawings which graced every single page of the book. Virgil sure was talented but was very modest with it, considering his work to be substandard, no matter how much it shone in the eyes of his family.

The blonde felt his heart flutter when he stopped at the page he just knew was the source of Virgil's discomfort. From the corner of his eye, John spotted Virgil shyly turn his head in the other direction, still feeling a little uncomfortable with the idea of someone looking at that particular drawing. John brushed his hand against the edge of the picture, taking in its elegant features.

John felt his breath hitch at the familiar features gracing the angelic figure on the page. His own eyes stared back at him, along with the cheeky smile belonging to Gordon on Scott's curved lips. Virgil's chestnut brown hair was there too, as was Alan's distinctive nose, causing a small smile to appear on John's face at the captured likeness. His mother looked as stunning as always.

"Virgil, this is beautiful."

Virgil looked up, uncertainty lacing his wide brown eyes. "Really?"

John smiled kindly. "Really really. If she were here now, she'd love it too..." He spoke quietly, a numb pain stinging his heart. Virgil leant his head against John's shoulder as if sensing his hurt, wanting to comfort him.

The two boys sat like this for a while, until John felt Virgil's head go limp against his arm. Knowing his brother had finally given into sleep, John shifted slightly so that Virgil's head was laying on his lap and pulled his blankets up over his body. John gazed towards his open window and looked up at the faint stars, noticing that one seemed to be standing out more than the rest of them. He smiled, knowing that the star was a sign their mother was still watching over the Tracy family, and always would be.

The Next Morning

Virgil stirred and woke up to unfamiliar surroundings. It took him a moment to remember that he was in John's bedroom. Sitting up in bed, he yawned and looked around for his fair haired brother. John was nowhere in sight. That was, until, the tall blonde strolled back into his room, two steaming hot mugs of coffee in hand. He smiled at his little brother.

"Good morning, sleepyhead! How did you sleep?"

Virgil pouted. "John! You could have moved me out of your bed!"

"But I didn't want to disturb you, kiddo! Besides, you looked real comfy snuggled up in my blankets like that." John grinned, placing the mugs down on his bedside table. Virgil felt himself blush at the remark and folded his arms.

Soon the sound of thundering footsteps could be heard, and John braced himself for the arrival of the terrible twosome. As did Virgil, apparently, as he had already decided to take shelter underneath the fluffy blankets, covering himself with them. The door shot open and said brothers ran in; a grinning Gordon followed by an excitable Alan. Both dove at John, trapping him in a tight hug.

"Morning Johnny!" They cried.

"Morning squirt, sprout! Did you two have a nice sleep?" John smiled down at them.

"I did! I had a dream about an aquarium! It was full of so many different types of fish and it makes me really want to go and see fish so I asked daddy and he said we can go to one when he's off work!" Gordon beamed, leaping up with excitement.

"And I had a dream about space! I was in a big rocket and I went to the Moon like dad did! Isn't that great, Johnny?"

"That's great, Alan." John replied, ruffling the smaller blonde's curls.

Gordon looked around quizzically. "Where's Virgy?"

John smirked and pointed at the small lump hiding under his duvet, causing Gordon to grin and poke Alan to show him their brother's hiding place. The two suddenly dove onto the bed, tackling Virgil and pinning him down so they could tickle him.

"Cut it out you guys! This isn't fair! John, make them stop!" Virgil laughed, trying to struggle free.

"No can do, ace. I think you needed this." He chuckled, picking up his coffee cup and taking a small sip as he watched the chaos unfold before him. "Besides, what kind of big brother would I be if I allowed you to escape their punishment that easily?"


End file.
